Women's Basketball Secures MASCAC Regular Season Crown Behind Bradbury's 37 Points

By Jim Fenton

BRIDGEWATER, Mass. -- The rematch of the 2025 Massachusetts State Collegiate Athletic Conference women's basketball championship game involved high stakes.

Bridgewater State University needed a win in order to secure a second straight regular-season title while Framingham State University was trying to keep its hopes alive for a share of the crown.

And with less than five minutes remaining Wednesday night, the Bears and Rams were tied in a game that included seven ties and eight lead changes.

BSU, undefeated in the MASCAC, was facing a challenge as it attempted to secure another championship.

The Bears rose to that challenge, outscoring Framingham State, 10-3, down the stretch for a 77-70 victory before a large crowd at the Tinsley Center.

BSU (15-9) clinched the title and the No. 1 seed in next week's MASCAC tournament, improving to 13-0 in the conference.

The Bears are riding a 14-game winning streak, the longest since Bridgett Casey became the head coach in 1997.

They are also one win away from only the second undefeated MASCAC regular season in program history. The 1984-85 Bears finished 12-0 in the conference.

BSU has now won eight MASCAC regular-season titles outright and has shared the championship two other times.

Fighting off Framingham State (14-10, 10-3 MASCAC) with a strong crunch-time performance served as a good tune-up for the postseason ahead.

"Having someone challenge us from start to finish is exactly what we needed," said Casey, whose team has not lost since Jan. 3 at nationally ranked Smith College. "This was exactly the game that I expected coming in.

"Now we can go back and be, 'OK, this is what we did well and this is what we need to work on."

Leading the way for the Bears was junior Sophie Bradbury (East Bridgewater, Mass.), who scored a career-high 37 points on 14-for-24 shooting. She made 6 of 11 shots from 3-point range and had 21 points in the second half.

Bradbury also led the Bears with six assists and added four rebounds and three steals in 37 minutes. Earlier this season at Framingham State, Bradbury missed 10 of 11 shots and had seven points.

"In that game, the shots were contested or rushed," said Casey. "She just wasn't on. But she can fill up the stats even without scoring. She's checking all the other boxes.

"Tonight she connected on all cylinders. She was in a zone, which was nice to see. I'm very happy for her. This is the time you want your players to start to peak and get that added confidence."

Bradbury's 37-point effort marked the third highest single-game total in program history. Destiny Fitzgerald holds the program record with 43 points against Westfield State on January 18, 2020, while Jennie Lindland scored 38 points against Westfield on February 23, 2017.

Freshman Emilie von der Linden (Sanbornville, N.H.) recorded her eighth double-double with 15 points and 11 rebounds while blocking five shots in 38 minutes. von der Linden leads the MASCAC and ranks among the top 20 in all of Division III with 2.4 blocks per game.

Senior Haley Burchhardt (Schenectady, N.Y.) added nine points and four assists while Bridgitt O'Sullivan-Van Etten (Cumberland, R.I.) had eight points, four rebounds, two steals and two assists.

BSU led, 19-18, after one quarter and had a 38-31 lead at halftime with Bradbury and von der Linden combining for 27 of the points.

The Rams fell behind, 43-32 early in the second half after a 3-pointer by Burchhardt and a layup by Bradbury, but they rallied to tie it at 45 with 4:53 to go.

Framingham State used a 13-2 run to pull even as it held BSU to a Bradbury basket over a nearly four-minute span.

Freshman Evi Higgins (Great Barrington, Mass.) had five points and senior Abigail Martin (Hanson, Mass.) scored four in that run.

Bradbury then scored five straight points and sophomore Reese Bartlett (Norwood, Mass.) added a layup for a 52-45 lead, but Framingham State scored eight in a row to go up, 53-52, before Bradbury ended the quarter with a 3-pointer with nine seconds remaining.

The Bears had a 63-55 lead 1:12 into the final quarter, Bradbury hitting two more 3-pointers, but the Rams took a 65-63 lead with a 10-0 run as five different players scored.

Bradbury made a jumper and von der Linden followed with a layup for a 67-65 lead.

The game was tied again at 67 when sophomore Jacqueline Schels (Hamburg, N.J.) scored with 4:49 remaining, but the BSU defense took over and limited Framingham State to a three-point play by Faith Greene (Worcester, Mass.) with 1:01 to go.

The Rams missed five of their final shots down the stretch.

von der Linden put BSU ahead for good at 69-67 and the Bears added six foul shots and a jumper by Burchhardt to take over in crunch time.

BSU also grabbed six offensive rebounds in the last 2:38 to hold off Framingham State.

"We thrive on our defense and our defense showed big,'' said Casey, whose team held the Rams to 1-for-17 shooting on 3-pointers. "We got some steals and easy baskets and we got some key offensive rebounds to secure the win.''

Greene led the Rams with 17 points, eight rebounds, four steals and two blocks while Schels had 14 points, eight rebounds and four assists and Martin scored 14 points with four rebounds and four assists. Senior Kelsey Yelle (Easton, Mass.) chipped in with 13 points and 11 rebounds off the bench.

The Bears finish the regular season Saturday at noon, traveling to Worcester State, with a chance for the first perfect MASCAC regular season in four decades.

All of this is happening after BSU lost four starters from last season's NCAA tourney team to graduation and opened this season 1-9 against non-conference teams.

"With who we lost, (it's a surprise)," said Casey. "A lot of points, assists and experience graduated.

"We struggled at 1-9, but we were playing high-quality teams. It's hard to do, but the work we put in during the offseason and those 10 games early is paying off."